Systems and methods for determining taxes owed for financial transactions conducted over a network

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of the invention provide a more secure financial transaction system for e-commerce sectors that (1) more securely processes payment transactions, (2) helps to protect merchants and banks against fraudulent transactions, money laundering, and underage gambling, and (3) helps to limit other abuses in areas of e-commerce that are perceived to pose special risks, such as Internet gaming, travel, and consumer purchasing of electronic goods. To accomplish the above goals, various embodiments of the financial transaction system (1) establish operating and transaction processing protocols for merchants, Internet payment service providers, acquiring banks, and card schemes and (2) provide automated systems for monitoring and securely processing payment and financial transactions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/745,561, entitled “Systems and Methods forProviding Financial Transactions over a Network”, filed on Apr. 25,2006, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference intheir entirety. In addition, this application herein incorporates byreference co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/609,785,entitled “Systems and Methods for Identifying Potentially FraudulentFinancial Transactions and Compulsive Spending Behavior”, filed on Dec.12, 2006, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/609,779,entitled “Systems and Methods for Funding Payback Requests for FinancialTransactions”, filed on Dec. 12, 2006, and co-pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/609,792, entitled “Systems and Methods forDetermining Regulations Governing Financial Transactions Conducted overa Network”, filed on Dec. 12, 2006.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In general, when a customer wishes to use a payment card (e.g., creditcard or debit card) with a merchant (on the Internet or otherwise), themerchant sends an electronic authorization request to an acquiring bank.The acquiring bank passes the electronic authorization request to theissuing bank (i.e., the bank or financial institution that issued thepayment card to the customer) via the card issuer network (e.g., Visa,MasterCard, American Express, or private card issuer network). Theissuing bank verifies that the customer has sufficient credit available,is not delinquent with payments, and that all information (e.g., cardnumber, card verification value number, and card holder details) thathas been supplied is correct. The issuing bank then sends an electronicmessage authorizing the payment, via the card issuer network, to theacquiring bank, and the acquiring bank sends the electronic message tothe merchant. The merchant accepts this authorization message as proofof future payment by the issuing bank. The actual transfer of the fundstakes place at a later stage, referred to as the settlement process.

Payment card transactions that occur over the Internet or other networksinvolve risks not necessarily present in face-to-face paymenttransactions because the card holder and the merchant are not normallytogether when the transaction occurs. In addition, some e-commercesectors, such as gambling and adult entertainment, raise additionalpublic interest concerns that further highlight a need for a system formaking payment card transactions secure and preventing fraud and otherabuses.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of the invention provide a more secure financialtransaction system for e-commerce sectors that (1) more securelyprocesses payment transactions, (2) helps to protect merchants and banksagainst fraudulent transactions, money laundering, and underagegambling, and (3) helps to limit other abuses in areas of e-commercethat are perceived to pose special risks, such as Internet gaming,travel, and consumer purchasing of electronic goods. To accomplish theabove goals, various embodiments of the financial transaction system (1)establish operating and transaction processing protocols for merchants,Internet payment service providers, acquiring banks, and card schemesand (2) provide automated systems for monitoring and securely processingpayment and financial transactions. Two or more of the variousembodiments described herein may be combined to provide a system ormethod that meets one or more of these goals.

According to various embodiments of the invention, a system forprocessing a financial transaction with an online merchant is provided.The system includes a payment service provider module that is configuredfor: (1) receiving a request to transfer funds from a customer accountto an online merchant; (2) in response to receiving the request totransfer funds, allocating at least a portion of the funds to be paid tothe online merchant to an escrow account; and (3) in response toallocating a portion of the funds to be paid to the online merchant toan escrow account, storing the allocated portion of funds in the escrowaccount for the lesser of a predetermined period of time or until arequest for a chargeback or refund request is received by the system. Inaddition, in one embodiment, the request may be received from a merchantcomputing device in communication with the payment services providermodule over a network.

In one embodiment, the payment service provider module is furtherconfigured for periodically generating a reconciliation report for eachonline merchant that lists transfer requests that have been received andportions of funds that have been allocated to the escrow account. Inother various embodiments, the payment service provider module isfurther configured for receiving a chargeback request or a refundrequest for funds previously transferred to the merchant from thecustomer account; and in response to receiving the chargeback request orthe refund request, funding the chargeback request or the refund requestfrom the funds stored in the escrow account.

In a further embodiment, the system also includes a fraud preventionmodule that is configured for applying one or more fraud filters to therequest. The fraud filters may include: (1) comparing a first locationassociated with the customer account with a second location associatedwith a customer computing device used to transmit the request to theonline merchant, and in response to the first location being outside ofa first predetermined acceptable distance of the second location,marking the request as potentially fraudulent; (2) comparing a thirdlocation associated with a customer email address with the secondlocation, and in response to the third location being outside of asecond predetermined acceptable distance of the second location, markingthe request as potentially fraudulent; (3) comparing a fourth locationassociated with a customer billing address for the customer account withthe second location, and in response to the fourth location beingoutside of a third predetermined acceptable distance of the secondlocation, marking the request as potentially fraudulent; (4) comparing acustomer identification with a list of individuals prohibited fromconducting financial transactions, and in response to the customeridentification matching one of the individuals on the list, marking therequest as potentially fraudulent; and/or (5) comparing anidentification of a customer account with a list of accounts prohibitedfrom conducting financial transactions, and in response to theidentification of the customer account matching one of the accounts onthe list, marking the request as potentially fraudulent.

According to various embodiments of the invention, a method of funding apayback request received from a customer is provided. The methodincludes the steps of: (1) establishing an escrow account for a merchant(e.g., an online merchant) that is funded by a percentage of funds to bepaid to the merchant from one or more accounts associated with one ormore customers; (2) receiving a payback request for a payment previouslymade to the merchant from an account associated with a particularcustomer; and (3) funding the payback request with funds stored in theescrow account. In one embodiment, the step of funding the paybackrequest occurs without dispute. In addition, according to variousembodiments, the payback request is a chargeback request or a refundrequest.

In addition, in a further embodiment, the method also includes the stepof transferring a portion of the funds in the escrow account to themerchant in response to the portion of funds being stored in the escrowaccount for a particular time period (e.g., at least six months). Inanother embodiment, the method further includes the steps of: (1)

reducing the percentage of funds to be paid by the merchant into theescrow account in response to the merchant receiving a reduced number ofpayback requests over a particular time period; and (2) increasing thepercentage of funds to be paid by the merchant into the escrow accountin response to the merchant receiving an increased number of paybackrequest over said particular time period. In yet another embodiment, themethod includes the step of applying one or more fraud filters that areconfigured for identifying potentially fraudulent payback requests tothe payback request. The fraud filters are executed by a fraudprevention module implemented on a computer readable medium according toone embodiment of the invention.

Various embodiments of the invention provide a method of funding apayback request to a customer that the steps of: (1) receiving a paybackrequest for a payment previously made to the merchant with an accountassociated with a customer; and (2)

funding the payback request to the customer with funds stored in anaccount associated with the merchant without dispute. The paybackrequest may be a chargeback request or a refund request, according tovarious embodiments. In addition, the payback request may be receivedfrom a financial institution holding the account associated with thecustomer according to one embodiment, and the funds for the paybackrequest may be paid to a financial institution holding the accountassociated with the customer.

According to various other embodiments of the invention, a fraudprevention system for identifying potentially fraudulent onlinefinancial transactions received from a customer for an online merchantis provided. The fraud prevention system includes a fraud preventionmodule that is configured for applying one or more of the fraud filtersdescribed above to each of one or more financial transactions receivedfrom one or more customers. In addition, in various embodiments, thefraud filters may also include: (1) comparing information associatedwith one or more subsequent financial transactions to the financialtransactions stored in the fraud database, and in response to thecustomer account, customer identification, or customer billing addressof each of the one or more subsequent financial transactions matchingany of the financial transactions stored in the fraud database, markingthe one or more subsequent financial transactions as potentiallyfraudulent; and (2) comparing the first location with the thirdlocation, and in response to the first location being outside of a firstpredetermined acceptable distance of the third location, marking thefinancial transaction as potentially fraudulent. In addition, in anembodiment in which the second location comprises a country, the fraudfilters further include comparing the second location with a list ofcountries that are prohibited from conducting financial transactionswith the merchant, and in response to the second location being on thelist of countries, preventing the financial transaction from beingconducted.

In another embodiment, the list of accounts prohibited from conductingfinancial transactions is a list of stolen accounts. In yet anotherembodiment, the first location is a location associated with a financialinstitution that manages the customer account. And, in anotherembodiment, the first location is a billing address associated with thecustomer account. According to various other embodiments, the firstlocation, the second location, the third location, and the fourthlocation may be a country, a region, a state, a locality, a county, acity, or a postal district defined by one or more postal codes.Furthermore, in one embodiment, the list of individuals and/or the listof accounts may be published by a government authority.

In addition, in one embodiment of the invention, the fraud filters areselected based on the location of the merchant. In another embodiment ofthe invention, the fraud filters are selected based on the secondlocation. And, in yet another embodiment of the invention, the fraudfilters are selected based on the first location.

In another embodiment, the system further includes a payment serviceprovider module that is configured for receiving a payback request forthe customer, and the fraud prevention module is further configured forcomparing an identity of the customer requesting the payback to a listof officers, directors, or owners associated with the online merchant.In response to the customer being on the list of directors, officers, orowners, the fraud prevention module marks the payback request aspotentially fraudulent.

According to yet another embodiment of the invention, the financialtransaction is a gambling payout request and the fraud prevention moduleis further configured for comparing an identification of an accountnamed by the customer for receiving a payout from the merchant with anidentification of an account used by the customer to place bets with themerchant. In response to the identification of the account named forreceiving the payout not matching the identification of the account usedto place bets with the merchant, the fraud prevention module marks thepayout request as potentially fraudulent. In a further embodiment, thefraud prevention module is further configured for preventing a payoutamount provided in the payout request from being transferred to theaccount named for receiving the payout. In another embodiment, theaccount named for receiving the payout request is associated with afirst payment card and the account used to place bets with the merchantis associated with a second payment card, and the fraud preventionmodule is further configured for comparing the first payment card to thesecond payment card. In response to the first payment card not matchingthe second payment card, the fraud prevention module marks the payoutrequest as potentially fraudulent.

According to various embodiments of the invention, a system formonitoring a compulsive spending behavior of a customer is provided. Thesystem includes a processor and a memory, and the processor isconfigured for: (1) storing, in the memory, information associated witheach of one or more requests from the customer to conduct financialtransactions with a merchant, the information comprising an amount offunds; (2) receiving a new request comprising a new amount of funds toconduct a financial transaction with the merchant; (3) in response toreceiving the new request, retrieving a total amount of funds stored inthe memory; (4) comparing a sum of the total amount of funds and theamount of funds in the new request with a pre-determined acceptablelimit; and (5) in response to the sum exceeding the pre-determinedacceptable limit, notifying one or more of the customer, a paymentsource associated with the customer, or the merchant that thepre-determined acceptable limit has been exceeded. In a particularembodiment, the information stored in the memory further comprises adate on which each request was received by the merchant; and theprocessor is further configured for comparing the sum of the totalamount of funds stored in the memory within a particular time period andthe amount of funds in the new request with the pre-determinedacceptable limit.

According to various other embodiments of the invention, another systemfor monitoring a compulsive gambling behavior of a customer is provided.The system is similar to the system described above, but the processoris further configured for retrieving the total amount of funds stored inthe memory for the type of financial transaction in the new request andcomparing a sum of the total amount of funds and the amount of funds inthe new request with a pre-determined acceptable limit associated withthe type of financial transaction in the new request. In variousembodiments of the invention, the type of transaction may be a requestto transfer funds to the merchant from an account associated with thecustomer or a request to place a bet using funds previously transferredto the merchant. In addition, in one embodiment, the requests and thenew request are received by a computing device associated with themerchant from one or more computing devices associated with the customerover a network. In a particular embodiment in which the informationstored in the memory includes a date on which the request was receivedby the merchant, the processor is further configured for comparing thesum of the total amount of funds requested by the customer within aparticular time period and the amount of funds in the new request withthe pre-determined acceptable limit. In another embodiment, theprocessor is further configured for preventing the new request frombeing processed in response to the sum exceeding the pre-determinedacceptable limit.

According to various embodiments of the invention, a third system formonitoring a compulsive spending behavior of a customer is provided thatis similar to the first system described above, but the informationassociated with the requests includes a date on which the request wasreceived by the merchant. The process of the third system is furtherconfigured for retrieving a total number of transactions stored in thememory within a particular time period, comparing the total number oftransactions with a pre-determined acceptable limit, and in response tothe total number of transactions exceeding the pre-determined acceptablelimit, notifying one or more of the customer, a payment sourceassociated with the customer, or the merchant that the limit has beenexceeded.

Various embodiments of the invention provide a tax accounting system forfinancial transactions conducted with online merchants. The taxaccounting system includes a memory and a processor, and the memory isconfigured for storing one or more types of tax and correspondingtaxation rates for each of one or more tax jurisdictions. The processoris configured for: (1) receiving information associated with a financialtransaction conducted with an online merchant from a customer; (2) inresponse to receiving the information associated with the financialtransaction, identifying one or more tax jurisdictions associated withthe financial transaction; (3) in response to identifying the one ormore tax jurisdictions associated with the financial transaction,querying the memory to determine whether one or more types of tax areassociated with the one or more tax jurisdictions; (4) in response todetermining that one or more types of tax are associated with the one ormore tax jurisdictions, applying the corresponding taxation rates foreach of the one or more types of tax to the information associated withthe financial transaction to determine an amount of tax owed; and (5) inresponse to determining the amount of tax owed, transferring the amountof tax owed to one or more relevant tax authorities. In variousembodiments, the tax jurisdictions are associated with a location of theonline merchant, a location of the customer, and/or a location of acomputing device used by the customer to conduct the financialtransaction.

In a further embodiment, the processor is further configured fortransferring the amount to the one or more relevant tax authorities viaelectronic funds transfer. In another embodiment, the processor isfurther configured for storing the amount of tax owed and the amounttransferred to the one or more relevant tax authorities in the memorywith the financial transaction information for a particular period oftime. In yet another embodiment, the processor is further configured forgenerating an accounting report for each of the one or more relevant taxauthorities, the accounting report comprising the amount of taxes owedto the relevant tax authority, the amount of tax transferred to therelevant tax authority, and at least a portion of the informationassociated with the financial transaction for which taxes were paid tothe relevant tax authority.

According to various other embodiments of the invention, a system forprocessing a financial transaction conducted with an online merchant isprovided. The system includes a payment service provider module that isconfigured for: (1) receiving a request to transfer funds from acustomer account to an online merchant, the request including a firstlocation associated with the customer's address and a second location ofa computing device that generated the request; (2) in response toreceiving the request, comparing the first location, the secondlocation, and a location of the online merchant with a list of locationsthat regulate the transfer of funds to the online merchant; (3) inresponse to the first location, the second location, or the location ofthe online merchant matching a location on the list of locations,determining whether one or more regulatory authorities regulate thetransfer of funds from the customer account to the online merchant inthe first location, the second location, or the location of the onlinemerchant; and (4) in response to determining that the one or moreregulatory authorities regulate the transfer of funds to the onlinemerchant in the first location, the second location, or the location ofthe online merchant, notifying one or more of the customer, themerchant, or a bank associated with an account of the customerassociated with the financial transaction of one or more types ofregulations to which the transfer of funds is subject. The types ofregulations include one or more of a prohibition of the transfer, alimitation on the transfer, or a tax on the transfer. In one embodiment,the second location is associated with an Internet protocol addressissued to the computing device that generated the request.

According to various embodiments of the invention, a second system forprocessing a financial transaction conducted with an online merchant isprovided. The system includes a payment service provider module that isconfigured for: (1) receiving a request to conduct a financialtransaction (e.g., a request to place a gambling bet with the onlinemerchant, a request to transfer funds to the online merchant, or arequest for a payout resulting from one or more gambling bets placedwith the online merchant) between a customer account and an onlinemerchant, the request comprising a first location associated with thecustomer's address and a second location of a computing device thatgenerated the request; (2) in response to receiving the request,comparing the first location, the second location, and the location ofthe merchant with a list of locations that regulate financialtransactions conducted with the online merchant; (3) in response to thefirst location, the second location, or the location of the merchantmatching a location on the list of locations, determining whether one ormore regulatory authorities regulate financial transactions conductedwith the online merchant in the first location, the second location, orthe location of the online merchant; and (4) in response to determiningthat the one or more regulatory authorities regulate financialtransactions in the first location, the second location, or the locationof the merchant, notifying one or more of the customer, the merchant, ora bank associated with an account of the customer associated with thefinancial transaction of a type of regulation to which the financialtransaction is subject.

In one embodiment, the payment services provider module is furtherconfigured for preventing the financial transaction from being conductedwith the merchant in response to determining that the one or moreregulatory authorities regulate financial transactions conducted withthe online merchant in the first location, the second location, or thelocation of the online merchant. In addition, in a further embodiment,the payment services provider module is further configured for notifyingone or more of the online merchant or the bank associated with thecustomer's account in response to determining that the one or moreregulatory authorities regulate financial transactions conducted withthe online merchant in the first location, the second location, or thelocation of the online merchant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described various embodiments of the invention in generalterms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, whichare not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of a financial transactionprocessing system in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of various contractual relationships withinthe financial transaction processing system in accordance with variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram of a computing device according to oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of a computing device according to analternative embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the financial transactionprocessing system in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a merchant module according to variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an IPSP module according to variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a block diagram of a fraud prevention sub-module according tovarious embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a flow diagram of a fraud prevention sub-module according tovarious embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an ASP module according to variousembodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are flow diagrams of an authorization transactionprocess according to various embodiments of the present invention;

FIGS. 10A and 10B are flow diagrams of a settlement transaction processaccording to various embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of a chargeback transaction process accordingto various embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram of a customer payment transaction processaccording to various embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram of an authorization transaction requestprocess according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a settlement transaction request processaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 15 is a flow diagram of a process of monitoring compulsive spendingbehavior according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram of a process of monitoring compulsive gamblingbehavior according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram of a process of determining any taxes owed ona financial transaction according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram of a process of identifying financialtransactions that are illegal or subject to regulation according to oneembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of the present invention now will be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, butnot all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, this inventionmay be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed aslimited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodimentsare provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Brief Overview

In general, various embodiments of the invention provide an improvedfinancial transaction processing system for e-commerce sectors that (1)more securely processes payment transactions, (2) helps to protectmerchants and banks against fraudulent transactions, money laundering,and underage gambling, and (3) helps to limit other abuses in areas ofe-commerce that are perceived to pose special risks, such as Internetgaming, travel, and consumer purchasing of electronic goods. Toaccomplish the above goals, various embodiments of the financialtransaction system (1) establish operating and processing protocols formerchants, Internet payment service providers, acquiring banks, and cardschemes and (2) provide improved automated systems for monitoring andprocessing payment and related financial transactions.

For example, in various embodiments of the invention, a rolling reserveescrow account is set up for each merchant and funded in a manner thatreduces the risk of loss to an acquiring bank or an issuing bank. Forexample, the risk of loss is reduced according to one embodiment byensuring that sufficient funds are available for processing payback(e.g., chargeback and refund) requests received by the merchant.According to one embodiment, a certain percentage of the funds paid tothe merchant is reserved and transferred to the escrow account for acertain period of time (e.g., 6 months, 1 year, or 3 years), and if thefunds are not used during the time period, the funds are transferredback to the merchant. Because the money to fund the rolling reserveescrow account is taken out of the merchant's potential profits, usingthe merchant's business for money laundering schemes may be lessattractive. In addition, according to various embodiments, the groundson which a merchant can dispute chargeback requests are limited suchthat acceptable grounds for dispute do not substantially increase therisk of loss to the acquiring bank or the issuing banks (e.g.,transactions that have been marked with a fraud flag). In anotherembodiment, the merchant may not be allowed to dispute chargebackrequests on any grounds. Thus, according to various embodiments, therolling reserve escrow account ensures a source of funds for processingpayback requests, which decreases the risk of loss to customers and mayincrease the likelihood that customers will use engage in onlinefinancial transactions. Furthermore, when payback requests are funded bythe merchant, the risk of loss for acquiring banks and issuing banks isdecreased and may result in more favorable business terms for themerchant (e.g., lower transaction rates or lower chargeback rates).

As another example, in various embodiments of the invention, theparticipants in the financial transaction system require each other tobe in compliance with the local regulatory authority. For example, inone embodiment, if a merchant is out of compliance, an Internet paymentservice provider (which is discussed in more detail below), acquiringbanks, and card schemes may refuse to do business with the merchant.Alternatively, in one embodiment, the participants may fine thenon-complying participant. Furthermore, customers may also refuse to dobusiness with non-complying merchants. By establishing this protocol,the financial transaction system tends to provide a market incentive forparticipants to remain in compliance with the local regulatoryauthority.

Participants of the financial transaction system may include, accordingto various embodiments of the invention, online customers, onlinemerchants, an Internet payment service provider (IPSP), an acquiringbank, issuing banks, or card schemes. The IPSP operates between themerchant and the acquiring bank to provide payment related services tothe merchants and interface between the merchants and an acquiring bankover the network. In addition, the IPSP may contract with an accountingservices provider (ASP) to provide accounting management servicesrelated to the payment services that the IPSP provides to the merchants.

FIG. 1 illustrates a high-level schematic diagram of how the variousparticipants interface with each other according to various embodimentsof the invention. For example, participants may exchange transactioninformation electronically over a network (e.g., the Internet, a privatenetwork, or a private LAN network). In particular, the transactioninformation may include an authorization request from the merchant totransfer money from the account associated with the customer's paymentcard to the merchant's account, an authorization message from theissuing bank authorizing the transfer of money from the customer'saccount to the merchant's account, a payback (e.g., chargeback orrefund) request from the issuing bank requesting money be transferredfrom the merchant's account to the customer's account, and settlementrequests for each merchant for all transactions processed during aparticular time period (e.g., 24 hours, 48 hours, or a week).

Although the embodiments discussed above describe using a payment card(e.g., debit card, credit card, prepaid card, or proximity card)associated with an account to purchase goods and services from an onlinemerchant, it will be understood that in various other embodiments, othertypes of payment modes can be used to make purchases. For example,alternative payment modes may include using payment tokens associatedwith an account (e.g., physical or electronic tokens) or using a numberassociated with an account (e.g., an account number and password foraccessing the account). Other payment modes may involve authorizingpayment by use of biometric data associated with an account, such as,for example, iris scans, finger print, and voice recognition. Paymentsmay also be authorized by a combination of an account number and a onetime password that may be supplied by a token or via telephone, email,or short message service (“SMS”).

As discussed briefly above, the financial transaction system accordingto various embodiments provides (1) operating and processing protocolsfor participants and (2) automated monitoring and processing systems(e.g., computer software and/or hardware) that are adapted forprocessing financial transactions with a high level of security. Theseprotocols and automated systems serve to protect customers andparticipants from fraudulent transactions and other abuses that maycreate risks in e-commerce transactions. Various examples of protocolsthat may be implemented by the system are described in detail below inSection A., and various embodiments of automated systems are describedin Section B. below. Exemplary flows of various transactions that may beprocessed through the financial transaction system are described in moredetail in Section

A. Exemplary Protocols

Various embodiments of the financial transaction system provideoperating and processing protocols for the participants. According tovarious embodiments, the protocols serve to deter organized crime andmoney laundering schemes using the merchant's business, reduce the risksof fraud and unauthorized transactions typically associated with onlinefinancial transactions and reduce the risk of loss to the acquiring bankand issuing banks, and increase the likelihood of compliance withgovernment or local regulatory regulations. For example, according tovarious embodiments of the invention, the participants should be able todemonstrate compliance with the local or jurisdictional regulatoryauthority and should maintain auditable records of transactionsprocessed for a particular time period (e.g., 2 years, 3 years, or 5years). In addition, protocols may require each participant todemonstrate compliance with local regulatory requirements beforeentering into contracts with other participants, and protocols mayrequire participants to verify periodically that the other participantsare in good standing with the local regulatory authority. Variousexemplary protocols that may be established for the merchant and IPSPare described below.

Merchant

According to various embodiments of the invention, the merchant may berequired to fully disclose the identity of company directors, officers,and beneficial shareholders and report any changes to the IPSP.Requiring that this list be provided and comparing the list to a list ofpeople and entities suspected to be involved with organized crime mayhelp deter organized crime rings from using the merchant's business formoney laundering or other illegal purposes.

In addition, according to various embodiments of the invention, themerchant may be required to take one or more steps that help to reducethe risk of loss from fraudulent transactions to the acquiring banks,issuing banks, and customers. For example, according to variousembodiments, the merchants may be required to (1) demonstrate compliancewith all relevant regulatory requirements, (2) pay a penalty paymentwhen any contractual obligations are breached, (3) use addressverification, age verification, and identity verification software onthe merchant's computing device to verify payment information andcustomer information provided during online transactions, (4) perform aninitial fraud check on payment and customer information received andperform random or periodic checks thereafter, or (5) provide notice to acustomer that is accessing the system using an IP address or thatprovides a billing address that is associated with a jurisdiction inwhich the transaction is considered illegal.

Furthermore, according to various embodiments, the merchant may berequired to implement protocols that mitigate the risk of abuseassociated with the merchant's business, if any, or the perceived socialimpact of conducting business with the merchant (e.g., compulsivespending if the merchant is an online gaming merchant or an adultentertainment provider). For example, the merchant may be required toprovide advice and help resources regarding the social impact of itsbusiness (e.g., a toll free telephone number for a help line, a websitethat offers helpful information, or contact information for acounselor). Furthermore, according to one embodiment, the merchant maybe required to provide the merchant's name and a free telephone numberon the customer's payment card statement for customers to call customerservice and query about the transaction. A customer servicerepresentative should be available 24/7, according to variousembodiments of the invention.

IPSP

According to various embodiments of the invention, the IPSP may berequired to implement one or more of the following security features tohelp deter organized crime rings or others from using the merchantsbusiness for money laundering purposes and to reduce the risksassociated with online financial transactions for the variousparticipants: (1) setting up a rolling reserve escrow account, such asthe escrow account discussed above, for each merchant from which it willprocess payback requests, (2) monitoring transactions to identifysuspicious activity, (3) monitoring the frequency and value oftransactions on a per payment card basis, (4) keeping transactions foreach merchant (or website) in separate streams for tracking and auditingpurposes, (5) saving transaction information periodically (e.g., every 2seconds or every 10 seconds) to create an audit trial and storing thetransaction information for a particular time period (e.g., 1 year, 2years, or 5 years), (6) verifying the identify of card holders, (7)requiring merchants to disclose company directors and beneficialshareholders to the IPSP, (8) limiting the payment of winnings fromInternet gambling merchants to the card holder and screening names ofpayees against applicable sanction lists (e.g., “Specially DesignatedNationals list” in the U.S.), (9) requiring merchants to be licensedunder applicable local laws and regulations and remain in good financialand legal standing, (10) penalizing merchants that are found to be inbreach of the contractual obligations (e.g., by terminating the contractwith the merchant or fining the merchant), (11) using several Tier 1acquiring banks operating in well-regulated jurisdictions and becertified by them, (12) requiring merchants to implement policies,procedures, and standards aimed at keeping cardholder informationsecured (e.g., being certified by VISA's Account Information Security(“AIS”) program), and (13) operating and applying recommendations of theFinancial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (e.g.,www.FATF-GAFI.org) (see, for example, “Anti-Money Laundering/CombatingTerrorist Financing Methodology (with FATF 40+9 incorporated)”promulgated by the International Monetary Fund), attached as AppendixA). In addition, in various embodiments, the IPSP maintains a frauddatabase 42, shown in FIG. 1, for storing information on transactionsprocessed by the IPSP that appear to be or were determined to befraudulent. The IPSP, according to one embodiment, allows otherparticipants to utilize the fraud database when processing transactions,further reducing the risk of loss to issuing banks, acquiring banks,merchants, and customers. Although the IPSP may manage its ownaccounting and the fraud database, reconcile transactions it processes,and generate reconciliation reports for the merchants, the IPSP,according to another embodiment, may contract with an ASP to provide oneor more of these services.

In addition, exemplary protocols according to one embodiment of theinvention may require that the IPSP create separate corporate entities(e.g., SG1, SG2, SG3, etc.) for each merchant, and that these corporateentities operate under the direction of the IPSP and/or ASP to managethe funds received for the particular merchant associated with thecorporate entity, which is discussed in more detail in relation to FIG.14. According to various embodiments, this corporate structure isolatesthe operation of each merchant. In addition, according to variousembodiments, this corporate structure provides a legal structure thatensures fair and objective control of the escrow funds being held forthe protection of the financial transaction system and the customer.

Acquiring Banks

According to various embodiments of the invention, exemplary protocolsmay require the acquiring banks to implement one or more of thefollowing security features to reduce the risks associated with onlinetransactions to the issuing banks and the customers: (1) monitor thecredit activity of online merchants to ensure that customers are able toreceive winnings or credits from merchants onto their payment cards(e.g., the cardholder funds transfer (CFT) pilot sponsored by VISA andthe Money Flow pilot sponsored by MasterCard), (2) ensure all cardscheme regulations are communicated to the IPSP and merchants, (3)ensure that transaction information has correct data elements asdictated by the card schemes and issuing banks, and (4) ensure the IPSPis in compliance with the applicable regulatory schemes.

Agreements between Participants

According to various embodiments of the invention, one or more systemprotocols may be incorporated into agreements between the participantsto ensure compliance with the established protocols. For example, FIG. 2illustrates a schematic diagram of contractual relationships among theparticipants according to various embodiments of the invention. Inparticular, the acquiring bank 36, the IPSP 34, and each merchant 31,32, 33 may enter into a three-way processing contract 45 that sets forththe obligations of each party with respect to how transactions areprocessed. This agreement 45 may require each party to remain in goodstanding with the local regulatory authority, provide an updated list ofofficers, directors, and beneficial shareholders to the other parties,perform certain identity verification and fraud checks on transactioninformation, and store transaction information for a particular timeperiod (e.g., for 1 year, 3 years, 5 years) for auditing purposes. Inaddition, according to one embodiment, the agreement 45 may include oneor more grounds on which the merchant may dispute a chargeback request.According to another embodiment, the agreement 45 may establish a feechargeable to the merchants 31, 32, 33 for chargebacks.

In addition, the acquiring bank 36 and the IPSP 34 may enter into atrust agreement 47 that sets forth the particular fraud checks that theIPSP should perform on transaction data and when the IPSP should requestsettlement on behalf of each merchant (e.g., daily or weekly).

The ASP 35 and each merchant 31, 32, 33 may enter into an escrowagreement 49 that sets forth how the ASP will manage the rolling reserveescrow account on behalf of the merchant (e.g., the percentage of fundsto be taken out for the escrow account, the length of time the funds arestored in the escrow account, or the format of reconciliation reports).

Furthermore, the ASP 35 and the IPSP 34 may enter into a serviceagreement 43 that sets forth the obligations of each party with respectto the accounting services provided by the ASP to the IPSP (e.g., theformats of and accessibility of data exchanged between the ASP and IPSP,the types and formats of summary reports generated by the ASP for or onbehalf of the IPSP 34, the calculation of fees payable to one or moreparticipants, or the approval procedures for approving reconciliationreports for the merchants). In addition, in one embodiment, the ASP 35may be required by the agreement 43 to respond to queries from merchants31, 32, 33 about transactions processed by the IPSP 34 or on behalf ofthe IPSP 34 by the ASP 35. Furthermore, in another embodiment, the ASP34 may be required to (a) identify all transaction data processed by theASP 35 on behalf of the IPSP 34 that is related to chargeback requestsand (b) forward the identified data to the merchant 31, 32, 33 toascertain what, if any, further actions the merchant 31, 32, 33 wishesto take with respect to the chargeback request.

B. Automated Systems for Monitoring and Processing Transactions

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, a transaction processing system, or acomputer program product. Accordingly, the present invention may takethe form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely softwareembodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects.Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of a computerprogram product on a computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-readable program instructions (e.g., computer software)embodied in the storage medium. More particularly, the present inventionmay take the form of web-implemented computer software. Any suitablecomputer-readable storage medium may be utilized including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatuses (i.e.,systems) and computer program products according to an embodiment of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implementedby computer program instructions. These computer program instructionsmay be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine,such that the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus create a means for implementingthe functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including computer-readableinstructions for implementing the function specified in the flowchartblock or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loadedonto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions executed on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will alsobe understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams andflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions orsteps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

In the various embodiments described herein, a “computer” or “computingdevice” may be referenced. Such computer may be, for example, amainframe, desktop, notebook or laptop, a hand held device such as adata acquisition and storage device, or it may be a processing deviceembodied within another apparatus such as, for example, a wirelesstelephone. In some instances the computer may be a “dumb” terminal usedto access data or processors over a network. Turning to FIG. 3A, oneembodiment of a computing device is illustrated that can be used topractice aspects of various embodiments of the invention. In FIG. 3A, aprocessor 1, such as a microprocessor, is used to execute softwareinstructions for carrying out the defined steps. The processor receivespower from a power supply 17 that also provides power to the othercomponents as necessary. The processor 1 communicates using a data bus 5that is typically 16 or 32 bits wide (e.g., in parallel). The data bus 5is used to convey data and program instructions, typically, between theprocessor and memory. In various embodiments, memory can be consideredprimary memory 2 that is RAM or other forms which retain the contentsonly during operation, or it may be non-volatile 3, such as ROM, EPROM,EEPROM, FLASH, or other types of memory that retain the memory contentsat all times. The memory could also be secondary memory 4, such as diskstorage, that stores large amount of data. In some embodiments, the diskstorage may communicate with the processor using an I/O bus 6 instead ora dedicated bus (not shown). The secondary memory may be a floppy disk,hard disk, compact disk, DVD, or any other type of mass storage typeknown to those skilled in the computer arts.

The processor 1 also communicates with various peripherals or externaldevices using an I/O bus 6. In various embodiments, a peripheral I/Ocontroller 7 is used to provide standard interfaces, such as RS-232,RS422, DIN, USB, or other interfaces as appropriate to interface variousinput/output devices. Typical input/output devices include localprinters 18, a monitor 8, a keyboard 9, and a mouse 10 or other typicalpointing devices (e.g., rollerball, trackpad, joystick, etc.).

The processor 1 typically also communicates using a communications I/Ocontroller 11 with external communication networks, and may use avariety of interfaces such as data communication oriented protocols 12such as X.25, ISDN, DSL, cable modems, etc. The communicationscontroller 11 may also incorporate a modem (not shown) for interfacingand communicating with a standard telephone line 13. Finally, thecommunications I/O controller may incorporate an Ethernet interface 14for communicating over a LAN. Any of these interfaces may be used toaccess a wide area network such as the Internet, intranets, LANs, orother data communication facilities.

Furthermore, the processor 1 may communicate with a wireless interface16 that is operatively connected to an antenna 15 for communicatingwirelessly with another device, using for example, one of the IEEE802.11 protocols, 802.15.4 protocol, or a standard 3G wirelesstelecommunications protocols, such as CDMA2000 1xEV-DO, GPRS, W-CDMA, orother protocol.

An alternative embodiment of a processing system that may be used isshown in FIG. 3B. In this embodiment, a distributed communication andprocessing architecture is shown involving a server 20 communicatingwith either a local client computer 26 a or a remote client computer 26b. The server 20 typically comprises a processor 21 that communicateswith a database 22 (e.g., a SQL database), which can be viewed as a formof secondary memory, as well as primary memory 24. The processor alsocommunicates with external devices using an I/O controller 23 thattypically interfaces with a LAN 25. The LAN may provide localconnectivity to a networked printer 28 and the local client computer 26a. These may be located in the same facility as the server, though notnecessarily in the same room. Communication with remote devicestypically is accomplished by routing data from the LAN 25 over acommunications facility to a wide area network 27, such as the Internet.A remote client computer 26 b may execute a web browser, allowing theremote client 26 b to interact with the server as needed by transmittingdata through the wide area network 27, over the LAN 25, and to theserver 20. In addition, the web browser may include a user interfacedeveloped in Java Script and Microsoft.net for example.

Those skilled in the art of data networking will realize that many otheralternatives and architectures are possible and can be used to practicevarious embodiments of the invention. The embodiments illustrated inFIGS. 3A and 3B can be modified in different ways and be within thescope of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates computing devices 101-109 that are associated witheach participant and that are in communication with each other via oneor more networks 115 (e.g., private networks, private LAN networks, orthe Internet) according to various embodiments of the invention. Forexample, according to one embodiment, the IPSP 34 may establish an IPSPnetwork that is accessible to merchants 31, 32, 33 and the acquiringbank 36 through IPSP gateways 40 that connect the IPSP network to thenetworks utilized by the merchants 31, 32, 33 and acquiring banks 36.According to various embodiments, the IPSP gateways 40 may beimplemented completely as hardware, completely as software, or as acombination of both. In one embodiment, IPSP gateways 40 ensure thesecurity of the information being transmitted to and from the IPSP 34 byselectively allowing access to the IPSP network. For example, merchants31, 32, 33 or acquiring banks 36 that do not have a contractualrelationship with the IPSP 34 may be denied access to the IPSP networkby the IPSP gateways 40.

In addition, the acquiring banks 36 may utilize card scheme networks toexchange information with the issuing banks 37, 38, 39 according tovarious embodiments of the invention. Examples of card scheme networksinclude, but are not limited to, the VISA, MasterCard, and AmericanExpress networks.

As discussed above in relation to FIGS. 3A and 3B, according to variousembodiments, the merchants 31, 32, 33, IPSP 34, ASP 35, acquiring bank36, and issuing banks 37, 38, 39 may be associated with one or morecomputing devices (e.g., one or more servers, SQL servers, or webservers) and one or more of these computing devices may include anautomated system for processing financial transactions. For example, thesystem 100 provides a merchant module 200 configured to operate on themerchants' systems 101, 102, 103, an IPSP module 300 configured tooperate on the IPSP's system 104, and an ASP module 400 configured tooperate on the ASP's system 105. These modules 200, 300, 400 automateprocessing functions for each participant, according to one embodiment.These modules may be implemented completely as hardware, completely assoftware, or as a combination of both.

In addition, according to one embodiment, the ASP module 400 may beconfigured to operate on an ASP system 105 if the IPSP 34 contracts withan ASP 35 to provide accounting related services, or, in anotherembodiment, the ASP module 400 may be configured to operate on theIPSP's system 104. Various embodiments of these modules are described inmore detail below in relation to FIGS. 5-8.

Merchant Module

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a merchant module 200 according tovarious embodiments of the invention. According to various embodiments,the merchant module 200 operates on the merchant system 101, 102, 103and automates at least a portion of the steps that a merchant performsto process transactions. For example, the merchant module 200 isconfigured to process authorization requests, which is shown as step202. In step 202, the merchant module 200 receives payment informationfrom a customer, which may include some or all of the customer's fullname and billing address, email address, credit card number, CVV2number, payment amount, or card issuer name. The merchant module 200then verifies the format of the payment information received, such asverifying whether the credit card number is a valid number and whetherall fields have been completed. The merchant module 200 may further beconfigured to compare the customer information with previously storedidentifications and passwords associated with 3-D secure software plugins (e.g., Verified by Visa and SecureCode by MasterCard). If the formatis correct, the merchant module 200 generates and transmits anauthorization request to the IPSP system 104 for further processing.

According to various embodiments of the invention, the merchant module200 is also configured to perform an elementary fraud check ontransaction requests received, shown as step 206. The elementary fraudcheck step 206 may include comparing the credit card number with a listof stolen credit card numbers, verifying that the billing addressprovided by the customer matches the billing address for the paymentcard, comparing the billing address provided with a billing address thatis provided when the customer initially registers with the merchant, orverifying that the card issuer name matches the banking identificationnumber (BIN) for the card, for example. In addition, the fraud checkstep 206 may be performed after the authorization request is transmittedto the IPSP (step 202), as shown in FIG. 5, or prior to generating andtransmitting the authorization request (not shown). In one embodiment,the fraud check step 206 is performed after the authorization requesthas been transmitted (step 202) but prior to settlement with the issuingbank.

If no potential problems are detected in the fraud check step 206, themerchant module 200 verifies the age and identity of the customer, shownas step 210. For example, the age may be verified by checking governmentrecords for the cardholder, such as voter registration records ordriver's license records, or by establishing a network connection withan electronic age and/or identity verification service (e.g., the “URU”service provided by the UK based GB Group) and providing the customer'sinformation to the service. The service, according to variousembodiments, compares the customer's information to government or otherpublic records to verify the customer's identity and age. In oneembodiment, the merchant module 200 may perform the age and identityverification step 210 when a customer is setting up a new account withthe merchant. The process of step 210 may be repeated periodically orrandomly thereafter to re-verify the identity and age of existingcustomers. In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the age andidentity verification step 210 is shown as occurring after the fraudcheck step 206 and the authorization request step 202. However, in otherembodiments, the age and identity verification step 210 can occur priorto the authorization request step 202 or the fraud check step 206.

If the customer's age and identity are not verified in the age andidentity verification step 210 or if the fraud check step 206 detects apotential problem for the transaction, the merchant module 200 maynotify the customer that the transaction is denied and the IPSP that thetransaction should be denied, shown as step 208, according to oneembodiment.

In addition, the merchant module 200 according to various embodiments isconfigured to display or otherwise notify the customer of the amount oftime spent on the merchant's website for a particular time period (e.g.,per session, 24 hours, or week). Having this information may assistcustomers in avoiding compulsive behavior with respect to the merchant'swebsite. Furthermore, the merchant module 200 may be configured to allowcustomers to access the transaction log for the customer maintained bythe merchant. In addition, the merchant module 200 may be configured toimplement self-regulation guidelines, such as, for example, limits onlosses (e.g., gambling transactions), or the time and/or amount or moneyspent on the merchant's website.

To protect against money laundering, the merchant module 200 may befurther configured to execute anti-money laundering software (e.g.,software that compares available data to the parameters set forth in the“Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Terrorist Financing Methodology (withFATF 40+9 incorporated)” promulgated by the International MonetaryFund), attached as Appendix A) to evaluate any transaction over aselected amount (e.g., £15,000 or $20,000). The evaluation by thesoftware may include identity verification and re-verification, followedby checks against the verified individual or company.

IPSP Module

FIG. 6 illustrates a flow diagram of an IPSP module 300 according tovarious embodiments of the invention. According to one embodiment, theIPSP module 300 is configured to operate on the IPSP system 104.Beginning at step 302, according to one embodiment, the IPSP module 300processes authorization requests received from the merchant system 101,102, 103. Each authorization request may include payment information fora particular transaction and the customer information associated withthe transaction, such as the full name of the customer, the customer'semail address, and the IP address of the computing device used by thecustomer to initiate the transaction. According to various embodimentsof the invention, the IPSP module 300 then transmits the authorizationrequest to the acquiring bank system 106, which transmits theauthorization request to the appropriate issuing bank system 107, 108,109. As discussed below in more detail in relation to FIGS. 9A and 9B,according to various embodiments, the IPSP module 300 receives anauthorization message from the issuing bank system 107, 108, 109, viathe acquiring bank system 106, authorizing or denying the transaction,and the IPSP module 300 transmits the authorization message to themerchant system 101, 102, 103.

According to various embodiments, in step 304, the IPSP module 300stores transaction information (e.g., authorization requests, chargebackrequests, refund requests, and settlement requests) processed by theIPSP module 300. The stored transaction information may be used forauditing purposes, monitoring the type and frequency of transactions ona per customer, per payment card, or per merchant basis, and generatingsettlement requests and allocating payment of funds received in responseto settlement requests. For example, authorization, chargeback, andrefund requests may be stored periodically, such as, for example, everysecond or every ten seconds, or on a per transaction basis, such as eachtime the IPSP module 300 receives and processes transaction information.These requests may be stored for a certain period of time (e.g., a dayor a week or longer). In addition, according to various embodiments, therequests may be stored on a per merchant basis (or on a per URL (UniformResource Locator) if a merchant has more than one website supportinge-commerce transactions). The IPSP module 300 groups the authorizationrequests for each merchant into a settlement request file for eachmerchant periodically (e.g., daily or weekly) and transmits thesettlement requests for the merchants in a batch file to the acquiringbank system 106 for settlement, which is discussed below in relation tostep 310. The IPSP module 300 may store the grouped transactioninformation as a separate file for a certain period of time (e.g., ayear, two years, or three years).

In various embodiments of the invention, the IPSP module 300 is alsoconfigured to execute a fraud prevention sub-module 350, which is shownas step 306 in FIG. 6 and discussed below in more detail in relation toFIGS. 7A and 7B, to verify that the transaction should be subject tosettlement by the system 100. For example, if the payment card number islisted on a list of stolen payment card numbers, the country of the IPaddress of the customer does not match the country in which the paymentcard was issued, or the customer is on a national sanctions list (e.g.,“Specially Designated Nationals list” in the U.S.), the IPSP module 300will not present the transaction for settlement. In the embodiment shownin FIG. 6, the execution of the fraud prevention sub-module 350 is shownas occurring after the authorization request processing step 302 and thetransaction information storage step 304. However, step 306 may beperformed by the IPSP module 300 prior to transmitting authorizationrequests to the acquiring bank system 106 in step 302 or prior tostoring the transaction information in step 304, according to otherembodiments of the invention.

According to various embodiments of the invention, if the fraudprevention sub-module 350 detects potentially fraudulent activity for atransaction in step 306, the IPSP module 300 is configured to notify theappropriate party or parties of the suspected fraudulent activity, whichis shown as step 308. The appropriate party according to variousembodiments may include the acquiring bank 36 (which may pass thenotification on to the issuing bank), the issuing bank 37, 38, 39(directly), the merchant 31, 32, 33, and/or the customer. In addition,the IPSP module 300 is configured, according to various embodiments, tostore information about potentially fraudulent transactions in a frauddatabase 42, shown as step 312. The fraud database 42 may be utilized bythe IPSP module 300 to analyze subsequent transactions. In addition, inone embodiment, the fraud database 42 may be accessible to the cardissuer networks and/or acquiring banks to analyze transactions received.Furthermore, the fraud database 42 may include one or more of thefollowing fields: customer name, address, IP address, paymentinformation (e.g., card or account number), phone number, and a code ordescription identifying prior fraudulent activity.

As shown in step 310, if the fraud prevention sub-module 350 does notdetect any potentially fraudulent activity in step 306, the IPSP module300, according to various embodiments, is configured to generate andtransmit settlement requests to the acquiring bank system 106 or theissuing bank system 107, 108, 109. The settlement requests are based onthe authorization, chargeback, and refund requests received by the IPSPmodule 300 within a particular time period (e.g., a day or a week). Thesettlement requests may include only those transactions that have notbeen detected as potentially fraudulent by the IPSP module 300 and themerchant module 200, according to one embodiment. Alternatively, thesettlement requests may include one or more transactions that have beendetected as potentially fraudulent by the IPSP module 300 or themerchant module 200, but are marked or flagged as being potentiallyfraudulent in the settlement request.

As mentioned above, the IPSP module 300 executes the fraud preventionsub-module 350 in step 306. An exemplary fraud prevention sub-module 350according to various embodiments of the invention is shown in FIGS. 7Aand 7B. As shown in FIG. 7A, the fraud prevention sub-module 350performs various steps, referred to herein as “fraud filters”, to detectpotentially fraudulent transaction activity and may be configured toblock or flag a transaction depending on the result of a particularfraud filter or a combination of results from a group of fraud filters.Steps 352-368 show several fraud filters that may be performed by thefraud prevention sub-module 350 according to various embodiments of theinvention. FIG. 7B illustrates steps executed by the fraud preventionsub-module 350 to determine which fraud filters to apply to thetransaction information, according to various embodiments of theinvention.

For example, as shown in step 352 in FIG. 7A, the fraud preventionsub-module 350 may compare the payment card information with a listidentifying stolen payment cards. In addition, as shown in step 354, thefraud prevention sub-module 350 may compare a location associated with afinancial institution that issued the payment card with a locationassociated with the IP address associated with the customer's computingdevice. The IP address associated with the customer's computing devicemay be obtained by the merchant module 200 (e.g., by using IP addressdetection software integrated into the merchant module 200) when thetransaction information is initially received by the merchant system101, 102, 103. In addition, the fraud prevention sub-module 350 may beconfigured to compare the location associated with the IP address of thecustomer's computing device with the customer's billing address toensure the location of the customer's computing device is within aparticular radius of the billing address (e.g., 50 miles). Similarly,the fraud prevention sub-module 350 may compare the location associatedwith the financial institution that issued the payment card with alocation associated with the email address provided by the customer, asshown in step 356, or compare the location of the IP address of thecustomer's computing device with the location associated with the emailaddress provided by the customer, as shown as step 357. The locationscompared above may include one or more of a country, a region, a state,a locality, a county, a city, or a postal district defined by one ormore postal codes (e.g., zip codes).

In addition, as shown in step 358, the fraud prevention sub-module 350may compare the banking identification number (BIN) of the payment cardto a list of suspicious BINs, and in step 360, the fraud preventionsub-module 350 may identify and flag transactions initiated by customershaving web mail email addresses (e.g., HOTMAIL or YAHOO emailaddresses). Furthermore, as shown in step 362, the fraud preventionsub-module 350 may compare the customer's information to agovernment-compiled list of persons that are prohibited from engaging infinancial transactions with merchants within the government'sjurisdiction. If the customer is identified on lists of persons, groupsand entities subject to financial sanctions published by thejurisdiction, such as the “Specially Designated Nationals list”published by the U.S., the transaction may be denied. Similarly, asshown as step 368, the fraud prevention sub-module 350 may compare acountry associated with the IP address of the customer's computingdevice with a list of countries that are prohibited from doing businesswith merchants in a particular jurisdiction, and if the country of theIP address is on the list, the transaction may be denied. In addition,as shown in step 367, the fraud prevention sub-module 350 may compare acustomer's information with a list of officers, directors, or owners ofthe online merchant, and if the customer is on the list, the transactionmay be flagged as being potentially fraudulent or denied.

According to various embodiments, the fraud prevention sub-module 350may further be configured to monitor the frequency of transactions foreach customer or each card for a particular time period (e.g., a month,a year), as shown in step 364. In addition, as shown in step 366, thefraud prevention sub-module 350 may be configured to monitor the type oftransactions (e.g., gambling transactions, travel transactions, adultentertainment transactions) for each customer or card during aparticular time period. By monitoring the frequency and type oftransactions on a per card or per customer basis, the fraud preventionsub-module 350, according to various embodiments of the invention, can(1) identify potentially fraudulent use of a card if the pattern of itsuse changes dramatically and (2) identify potential addictions or abusesif the customer engages in a particular type of transaction morefrequently or too frequently. The monitoring steps 364 and 366 may beaccomplished, according to one embodiment, by establishing a range offrequency and/or types of transactions based on the customer's priortransactions and comparing future transactions to the established range.According to other embodiments, the ranges used by the fraud preventionsub-module 350 may be published by local governments or regulatoryauthorities, result from academic or institutional research or the like,or may be established by one or more of the participants.

FIG. 15 illustrates a process of monitoring compulsive spending behavioraccording to various embodiments of the invention. In particular,beginning at step 502, a new request for a financial transaction isreceived by the IPSP module 300. In response to receiving the newrequest, the IPSP module 300 retrieves a total amount of funds that havebeen stored in the memory 24 associated with previously requestedfinancial transactions between the particular merchant 31, 32, 33 andcustomer, shown as step 504. In step 506, a sum of the total amount offunds retrieved and the amount of funds in the new request are comparedwith a pre-determined acceptable limit of funds to be spent with themerchant 31, 32, 33. If the sum exceeds the pre-determined acceptablelimit, the IPSP module 300 notifies the appropriate party or parties(e.g., customer, the issuing bank, and/or the merchant) that the limithas been exceeded, shown as step 508. In an alternative embodiment ofthe invention, the IPSP module 300 may retrieve the amount of fundsstored in the memory within a particular time period (e.g., 24 hours, 36hours, week, month, quarter, year, etc.). In addition, in anotheralternative embodiment, the IPSP module 300 is configured for comparingthe number of transactions conducted between the customer and themerchant during a particular time period, and if the number oftransactions conducted exceeds a pre-determined acceptable limit, thenthe IPSP module 300 notifies the customer, issuing bank, and/or merchantthat the limit has been exceeded.

Similarly, FIG. 16 illustrates a process of monitoring compulsivegambling behavior according to various embodiments of the invention.Beginning at step 602, a new request for a financial transaction isreceived by the IPSP module 300. The new request may include an amountof funds and a type of transaction (e.g., transferring funds to themerchant, placing a bet with the merchant, requesting a payout from themerchant). Next, in step 604, the IPSP module 300 retrieves a totalamount of funds stored in the memory 24 for the type of financialtransaction in the new request. Then, in step 606, a sum of the totalamount of funds and the amount of funds in the new request are comparedwith a pre-determined acceptable limit associated with the type offinancial transaction in the new request. If the sum exceeds thepre-determined acceptable limit, the IPSP module 300 notifies theappropriate party or parties (e.g., customer, the issuing bank, and/orthe merchant) that the limit has been exceeded, which is shown as step608. In one embodiment, if the sum exceeds the pre-determined acceptablelimit, the new request is denied. Furthermore, the total amount of fundsretrieved from the memory may be limited to those funds stored within aparticular time period, and the pre-determined acceptable limit may bevary based on the time period being queried.

In addition to monitoring the types of transaction mentioned above,according to various embodiments of the invention, the fraud preventionsub-module 350 may be further configured to monitor payback requesttransactions and identify suspicious transactions. In response toidentifying suspicious payback request transactions, such as byidentifying transactions in which the payback request information doesnot align with information in the original transaction or by identifyinga significant number of payback request transactions for a particularpayment card during a particular time period (e.g., within a week, amonth, or several months), the payment card number may be added to alist of prohibited payment cards, thus preventing future purchasingtransactions with the payment card.

In addition to the above filters, according to various embodiments ofthe invention, the fraud prevention sub-module 350 may further beconfigured to (1) ensure that each customer only use one payment cardand (2) limit payments for certain activities for each customer to aparticular frequency during a particular time period (e.g., one paymentper day or three payments per 36 hours). Furthermore, according to oneembodiment, a ceiling may be set on the amount that can be spent percard or per customer on particular services (e.g., Internet gambling oradult entertainment) during a particular time period (e.g., per day,week, or month). In one embodiment, the ceiling may be set upon requestby the customer. In another embodiment, the IPSP system 104 mayintroduce a default limit on the amount that can be spent on certainactivities (e.g. 20% of the credit limit associated with the paymentcard), which could not be increased without the explicit request of thecustomer. According to one embodiment, the IPSP system 104 or themerchant system 101, 102, 103 may be configured to present materials tothe customer regarding the risk of overspending in response to receivinga request to increase the spending limit, such as via a phone call froma specially trained employee or an email to the customer, and presentmaterials or resources when potential abuse is detected (e.g., GamblersAnonymous phone numbers, website address, or other materials).

According to various embodiments of the invention, the IPSP system 104further includes a fraud and abuse database (not shown) that storesresults from the fraud prevention module 350. In one embodiment, theIPSP module 300 accesses the database when processing transactions (step302) or when executing the fraud prevention sub-module (step 306) todetermine whether the transaction should be denied based on a priorfraud check for the particular payment card or customer.

As shown in FIG. 7B, the fraud prevention sub-module 350 may use one ormore of the above described fraud filters to evaluate the transactioninformation received, according to one embodiment of the invention.Beginning at step 370, the fraud prevention sub-module 350 receives thetransaction data from the IPSP module 300. Next, in step 372, the fraudprevention sub-module 350 determines the one or more fraud filters touse in evaluating the transaction data. For example, according to oneembodiment, fraud prevention sub-module 350 uses the fraud filters thatare previously selected by the merchant to be used. According to anotherembodiment, the type of fraud filters to be used depends on the type oftransaction (e.g., an authorization request, a chargeback request, asettlement request, or a payment request) or whether the stage of thetransaction (e.g., whether the transaction information has not yet beensent to the issuing bank or whether it has been authorized by theissuing bank already). In yet another embodiment, the type of fraudfilters to be used depends on the country of the IP address associatedwith the customer. And, in another embodiment, the choice of which fraudfilters should be applied is determined by the IPSP and/or the localregulatory authority. Finally, in step 374, the fraud preventionsub-module 350 executes the appropriate fraud filters to evaluate thetransaction data.

In addition to executing the fraud prevention sub-module 350, the IPSPmodule 300 is further configured for identifying financial transactionsthat are illegal or subject to regulatory restrictions according tovarious embodiments of the invention. For example, FIG. 18 illustratesan exemplary process of identifying an illegal or regulated financialtransaction. Beginning at step 802, the IPSP module 300 receives arequest to transfer funds from a customer's payment card to the merchant31, 32, 33. The request to transfer funds includes the customer'sbilling address and the location of the IP address associated with thecomputing device used by the customer to generate the request. Next, instep 804, the IPSP module 300 compares the customer's billing address,the location of the IP address, and the location of the merchant 31, 32,33 with a list of locations that regulate the transfer of funds to themerchant 31, 32, 33. If any of these locations match a location on thelist of locations, the IPSP module 300 determines whether one or moreregulatory authorities regulate the transfer of funds in any of theselocations, shown as step 806. If the IPSP module 300 determines that oneor more regulatory authorities regulate the transfer of funds, the IPSPmodule 300 notifies the appropriate party or parties (e.g., customer,the merchant, and/or the issuing bank) of the one or more types ofregulations to which the transfer of funds is subject, shown as step808. The types of regulations to which a financial transaction may besubject includes a prohibition of the transfer (e.g., a gamblingtransaction in a state or region in which gambling is illegal) or alimitation on the transfer (e.g., a gambling transaction in a state orregion that limits the amount of funds bet).

ASP Module

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an ASP module 400 according tovarious embodiments of the invention. Although the ASP module 400 may beconfigured to operate on an ASP system 105 according to one embodiment,it may also be configured to operate on the IPSP's system 104 if theIPSP does not contract with an ASP to provide accounting managementservices according to another embodiment.

Beginning in step 402, according to one embodiment, the ASP module 400obtains transaction information from the IPSP system 104 and theacquiring bank system 106. The transaction information obtained from theIPSP system 104 may include the following data fields for eachtransaction: (1) a merchant identification (“MID”) number, which isgranted by the acquiring bank to identify the merchant or trading entity(e.g., specific website) of the merchant; (2) the date and time of thetransaction; (3) the name of the customer; (4) the payment card numberor a portion of the payment card number (e.g., the last four digits);(5) the cardholder's email address; (6) the currency of the transaction;(7) the type of payment card used (e.g., Visa, MasterCard, or AmericanExpress); (8) the payment amount; (9) an order reference number that themerchant allocated to the transaction; (10) an authorization code, whichis a unique code generated by the issuing bank indicating whether thetransaction was authorized; (11) the settled status of the transaction(e.g., “100” for completed transactions); (12) the “settled time,” whichis the time at which the IPSP sent the settlement request to theacquiring bank; (13) the cardholder's street and street number; (14) thecardholder's town; (15) the cardholder's country; (16) the cardholder'spostal code; (17) a parent transaction reference, which, in the case ofa refund request, is a reference to the original transaction that isbeing refunded; (18) order information, which merchants can use toinclude more information about the transaction in if they wish; (18)“site reference,” which is the IPSP's reference to the merchant; (19)the type of transaction, which may include authorized transactions,refund transactions, and cancelled transactions (e.g., transactions thatare cancelled or for which the amount has changed at the request of themerchant prior to the transfer of money by the issuing bank to themerchant and after a settlement request is transmitted from the IPSP tothe acquiring bank); and (20) a unique reference number (URN) thatuniquely identifies a transaction in the ASP system 105. According toone embodiment of the invention, this information may also be includedin the settlement requests that are transmitted from the IPSP to theacquiring bank, which is discussed above in relation to step 310 in FIG.6 and below in relation to steps 1102 and 1104 in FIG. 10A. Thetransaction information obtained from the acquiring bank system 106 mayinclude the total amount of funds requested from the issuing banks,aggregated in one or more batches on a per merchant basis, for example.

According to various embodiments, to obtain the transaction information,the ASP module 400 may access secure web pages (e.g., maintained by eachsystem 104, 106) on which the transaction information is posted anddownload the information to the ASP system 105, receive the transactioninformation through another type of electronic transmission (e.g, viaemail or fax), or a combination of both.

In various embodiments, the transaction information obtained in step 402is stored on the ASP system 105, as shown in step 404 and theinformation obtained from the IPSP system 104 is compared to theinformation obtained from the acquiring bank system 106, as shown instep 406. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, step 406 is shown asoccurring after step 404, but in other embodiments, the steps can occursimultaneously or in reverse order.

According to various embodiments of the invention, in the comparisonstep 406, the ASP module 400 identifies any transactions for which thetransaction information provided by the IPSP system 104 does not matchthe transaction information provided by the acquiring bank system 106.In one embodiment, any non-matching transactions are flagged andreported to the merchant, the IPSP, and/or the acquiring bank in anexception report generated by the ASP module 400, which is discussedbelow in more detail in relation to step 410. In another embodiment inwhich the acquiring bank system 106 transfers the funds directly intoaccounts associated with each merchant and maintained by the IPSP 36and/or the ASP 35, which is described below in relation to FIG. 14, theASP module 400 is further configured to compare the transactioninformation provided by the IPSP system 104 and the acquiring banksystem 106 with the amounts transferred into each merchant account.

After reconciling the transaction information provided by the IPSPsystem 104 and the acquiring bank 106, the ASP module 400 may thenallocate payment amounts received during the settlement process to thevarious participants, which is shown as step 408 in FIG. 8. The paymentamounts may include, for example, payment amounts to the merchants 31,32, 33, commissions owed to the IPSP 34, the acquiring bank 36, and theASP 35, and a percentage of funds to be deposited in a rolling reserveescrow account 41 for each merchant 31, 32, 33. For example, accordingto various embodiments, the various participants may require a certainpercentage of funds received by the merchant 31, 32, 33 as payment fortheir services in the contracts 43, 45, 47, 49 with the merchant 31, 32,33 and with each other. For example, the acquiring banks 36 may charge3% of the funds received by the merchant 31, 32, 33 from the issuingbanks 37, 38, 39, the card schemes may charge 1% of the fundstransferred using their cards, the IPSP 34 may charge 5% for its paymentrelated services, and the ASP 35 may charge the IPSP 34 3% of the moneyreceived by the IPSP 34 for its accounting management services. Asanother example, the ASP 35 may also calculate the provisional costsincurred by the IPSP 34 for various services, such as card verification,commission payments to the various participants, and any fees chargeableto the merchants 31, 32, 33 for chargebacks received.

In addition, according to various embodiments, the financial transactionsystem 100 may establish protocols that specify the percentage of fundsthat are to be used to fund the rolling reserve escrow account 41. Forexample, system protocol may require the ASP module 400 to allocate 7.5%of the funds to be received by each merchant 31, 32, 33 to the rollingreserve escrow account 41 for each merchant 31, 32, 33. In anotherexample, according to one embodiment, the percentage specified for therolling reserve account may be automatically increased or decreaseddepending on the number of payback requests received for the particularmerchant 31, 32, 33. In addition, the ASP module 400, according to oneembodiment, monitors and identifies funds that have remained in theaccount for the predetermined time period (e.g., six months, one year,or three years) and re-allocates those funds to the merchant 31, 32, 33at the end of the time period. Furthermore, the escrow account 41 isshown in the embodiment in FIG. 1 as being part of the ASP system 35.However, in other embodiments, the escrow account 41 may reside or bemaintained by a bank or other financial institution.

Next, in step 410, the ASP module 400, according to various embodiments,is configured to generate a reconciliation report, or an “advice note,”for each merchant. In one embodiment, the advice note provides eachmerchant with a summary of the transactions processed for the merchantduring a particular time period (e.g., a day or a week), the exceptionreports (if needed) created in the reconciliation step 406, a summary ofpayments allocated to each of the various participants in step 408, ansummary of the activity in the escrow account during the particular timeperiod, and the day on which the payments are to be transferred to themerchant 31, 32, 33. In another embodiment, the various portions of theadvice note are included in separate reports (e.g., an exception report,a payment allocation report, and a transaction summary report). And, inyet another embodiment, the ASP module 400 is configured to generate oneor more summary reports for the IPSP 34 and each merchant 31, 32, 33according to the particular formats specified by each.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the ASP module 400 is furtherconfigured to (1) transmit the advice notes for each merchant 31, 32, 33to the IPSP 34 for approval, which is shown as step 412, and (2) uponreceiving approval for the advice note from the IPSP 34, which is shownas step 414, transmit the advice notes to the merchants 31, 32, 33,which is shown as step 416. In another embodiment in which the IPSP 34does not contract with an ASP 35 to provide accounting managementservices (not shown), steps 412 and 414 may not be performed.

In addition, the ASP module 400 is configured to prepare and transmitpayments to the various participants and to the escrow account as shownin step 418, according to various embodiments of the invention. Step 418may include, for example, physically sending payment (e.g., checks orcash) to each of the participants, preparing the request for anelectronic funds transfer (EFT) from an account associated with the ASPsystem 105 to the accounts associated with each of the variousparticipants that are owed money, or a combination of both. Furthermore,although the payment step 418 is shown as occurring after step 416 inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the ASP module 400 according to otherembodiments may be configured to perform the payment step 418simultaneously with or prior to step 416.

In other embodiments of the invention, the ASP module 400 may be furtherconfigured to withhold local or regional taxes on relevant e-commercetransactions (e.g., Internet gambling transactions, or retail purchases)prior to transmitting payments to each merchant 31, 32, 33. For example,in one embodiment, the ASP module 400 may be configured to apply theapplicable tax or licensing rate on the basis of the place of residenceor the place of transaction of each customer and/or merchant andtransfer the funds directly to the relevant tax or licensingauthorities.

In particular, FIG. 17 illustrates an exemplary process of accountingfor any taxes owed on a financial transaction. Beginning at step 702,the appropriate types of tax and corresponding taxation rates for eachof one or more tax jurisdictions are stored in the memory 24. Next, atstep 704, information associated with a financial transaction conductedbetween a customer and the merchant 31, 32, 33 is received. In responseto receiving the information associated with the financial transaction,one or more relevant tax jurisdictions associated with the financialtransaction are identified, shown as step 706. Next, in step 708, thememory is queried to determine the one or more types of tax associatedwith the identified tax jurisdictions. If one or more types of tax areassociated with the identified tax jurisdictions, then the correspondingtaxation rates for the types of tax are applied to the financialtransaction to determine the tax owed on the transaction, which is shownas step 710. In addition, upon determining the tax owned on thetransaction, the amount of tax owed is transferred to the relevant taxauthorities, shown as step 712. In various embodiments, taxes may belevied depending on the location of the transaction originator (e.g.,merchant), the customer, and/or the location of the computing devicefrom which the customer placed the order.

In various embodiments, the amount of tax withheld and the amount paidto the tax authorities are stored in the system with the transactioninformation for a period of time, which, in some embodiments, allows fora full audit trail. For example, in one embodiment, the amount due isheld in a designated bank account and is paid to the tax authoritiesperiodically (e.g., monthly, weekly, daily, or in real time). In oneembodiment, the amount due is paid the tax authorities via electronicfunds transfer (EFT).

According to various embodiments, this tax accounting functionalitylessens the burden on the merchants, customers, and tax authorities andprovides a trustworthy accounting system for taxable transactions. Inaddition, in one embodiment, the ASP module 400 generates accountingreports for tax authorities that summarize the taxes due and/or taxescollected.

Furthermore, in various embodiments, transaction records may be auditedelectronically or manually through the ASP module 400. In particular,the unique reference number (“URN”) associated with each transaction istracked as the transaction is processed through the system. For example,in one embodiment, a plurality of transactions may be grouped into abatch file and sent to the acquiring bank for settlement. The ASP module400 stores the URN associated with each transaction in the batch filealong with information identifying the batch file such that eachindividual transaction is independently auditable.

C. Exemplary Processing Flows

Authorization Processing Flow

FIG. 9A illustrates the flow 1000 of processing an authorization requestaccording to various embodiments of the invention. In one embodiment,the processing of the authorization request takes place online while thecustomer is waiting, and it typically takes about two to twenty secondsto process. If the authorization request is accepted by the issuingbank, the merchant accepts the customer's payment and the issuing bankblocks the amount requested against the credit limit or balanceassociated with the payment card.

According to various embodiments of the invention, the authorizationrequest process 1000 begins at step 1002 by the merchant 31, 32, 33receiving a request from a customer to transfer money from thecustomer's payment card to the merchant's account. The request mayinclude, for example, the amount to be transferred and the customer'sinformation and payment card information (assuming that the merchantdoes not have the customer's information and payment card informationstored from a previous transaction). In one embodiment, the customer andpayment card information may include the full name and address of thecustomer, the customer's email address, and the payment card number,expiration date, and any other identifying information associated withthe payment card. In one embodiment, the request may be received by themerchant's system 101, 102, 103 and stored thereon.

Next, in step 1006, according to various embodiments of the invention,the merchant 31, 32, 33 verifies the format of the information receivedin the customer's request. In one embodiment, as discussed above inrelation to the merchant module 200 shown in FIG. 5 and step 204, themerchant module 200 verifies whether the format of the payment cardnumber is correct and whether all required fields have been completed.

After verifying the format of the information in step 1006, the merchant31, 32, 33 transfers the transaction information to the IPSP 34 forfurther processing, which is shown as step 1010. The IPSP 34 receivesand stores the transaction information on the IPSP system 104 andtransfers to the acquiring bank 36 information needed by the acquiringbank 36 and the issuing banks 37, 38, 39 to process the authorizationrequest, shown as step 1012. For example, the information may betransferred by the IPSP module 300 to the acquiring bank system 106 andmay include the payment card number, the payment amount, and the billingaddress of the customer, according to various embodiments of theinvention.

Next, in step 1014, the acquiring bank system 106 receives and storesthe authorization request on the acquiring bank system 106. Then, instep 1016, the acquiring bank system 106 identifies the appropriate cardissuer and issuing bank and routes the authorization request to theissuing bank via the appropriate card issuer network (e.g., the VISA,MasterCard, or American Express networks). Upon receiving theauthorization request, the issuing bank system 107, 108, 109 verifiesthat the payment card is operational and valid, which is shown as step1018, and that sufficient funds are available for the payment card,which is shown as step 1020. Upon approving the authorization request,the issuing bank system 107, 108, 109 sends an approval message to theacquiring bank system 106 through the card issuer network, shown as step1022, and the acquiring bank system 106 receives the approval messageand transmits the approval message to the IPSP system 104 in step 1024.Then, in step 1026, the IPSP system 104 receives and stores the approvalmessage and transmits the approval message to the merchant system 101,102, 103 that initiated the authorization request.

According to various embodiments, the elementary fraud check andidentity/age verification steps (steps 204 and 206) discussed above inrelation to FIG. 5 may be performed by the merchant module 200simultaneously with, before, or after step 1010 of transferring theauthorization request information from the merchant to the IPSP. Inaddition, according to various embodiments of the invention, the step ofexecuting the fraud prevention sub-module 350, which is shown as step306 in FIG. 6, may be performed by the IPSP module 300 simultaneouslywith, before, or after step 1012 of transferring the authorizationrequest information from the IPSP to the acquiring bank.

In another embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 13, the customer'sinformation is encrypted when sent to the merchant system 101 a, 102 a,103 a and through the network 115 a to the IPSP system 104 a (e.g., with2048 bit variable encryption). In addition, the IPSP module 300 aexecutes one or more of the fraud filters of the fraud preventionsub-module 350 a and, if the fraud filters detect potentially suspiciousactivity, the IPSP module 300 a sends the results of the fraud check tothe merchant for approval prior to sending the authorization requests tothe acquiring bank system 106 a. After the merchant provides approvalfor the transaction, the IPSP module 300 a transmits the authorizationrequest to the acquiring bank, which then transmits the request to theissuing bank. After the acquiring bank receives the authorizationmessage from the issuing bank, the acquiring bank stores the transactioninformation in a memory area of the acquiring bank system 106 a (e.g., adatabase) and sends the authorization message to the IPSP system 104 a.The IPSP module 300 a forwards the authorization message to the merchantand may execute one or more fraud filters on the transaction informationprior to generating a settlement request for the transaction.

Settlement Processing Flow

FIGS. 10A and 10B illustrate the exemplary flow 1100 of processing asettlement request according to various embodiments of the invention. Asettlement request, according to various embodiments, is a requestgenerated by the acquiring bank (or the IPSP on behalf of the acquiringbank) to transfer money from the issuing bank to the acquiring bank forpayment to the merchant. According to various embodiments of theinvention, the settlement request process 1100 begins at step 1102 withthe IPSP system 104 generating a settlement request for each merchant31, 32, 33 and transmitting the settlement requests in a batch file tothe acquiring bank 36. In various embodiments, each settlement requestcontains the data for transactions that have been handled by the IPSP 34during a particular time period (e.g., 24 hours, 48 hours, or week). Thesettlement requests may include authorized and unauthorized transactionsor just authorized transactions, according to various embodiments of theinvention. Next, according to various embodiments of the invention, instep 1104, the IPSP system 104 stores the settlement requests on theIPSP system 104. The settlement requests may be transferred to the ASPsystem 105 by downloading the settlement requests from a secure part ofthe IPSP system 104, or the IPSP 34 may send physical copies orelectronic copies of the settlement requests to the ASP 35 (e.g., viaemail, facsimile, CD, DVD, or floppy disk). The contents of thesettlement requests according to various embodiments of the inventionare discussed above in relation to FIG. 8.

As shown in step 1106, the acquiring bank 36 receives the batch file andtransmits the settlement requests to the appropriate issuing banks 37,38, 39. In addition, the acquiring bank 36 generates and stores apayment report for the ASP 35 that summarizes the amount of funds (e.g.,aggregate amount of funds) included in each settlement request for eachissuing bank 37, 38, 39, which is shown as step 1108. One embodiment ofthe payment report generated by the acquiring bank 36 for the ASP 35 isdiscussed above in relation to FIG. 8.

Then, in step 1110, the issuing banks 37, 38, 39 transfer the requestedfunds to the acquiring bank 36. Next, in step 1112, the acquiring bank36 transfers the funds received to the IPSP 34. Before the IPSP 34 (orthe ASP 35) distributes the funds to the appropriate participants andthe escrow account, the ASP system 105 obtains the settlement requestsgenerated by the IPSP system 104 and the payment report generated by theacquiring bank 36 and reconciles the information obtained in step 1114.The results of the reconciliation performed in step 1114 may besummarized in a reconciliation report (or “advice note”) by the ASP 35according to various embodiments of the invention. Finally, in step1116, the ASP 35 organizes the payments for each participant and theamount for transferring to the escrow account and transfers the paymentsto the participants and the escrow account.

According to one embodiment, the ASP module 400 is configured to performsteps 1114 and 1116, which is discussed above in relation to FIG. 8. Forexample, the ASP module 400 summarizes the results from reconciling thedata provided by the IPSP and the acquiring bank in a reconciliationreport that is sent to each merchant 31, 32, 33 periodically (e.g.,daily or weekly). The reconciliation report summarizes the amounts thatthe merchant 31, 32, 33 can expect to receive in the merchant's bankaccount by a particular date. In addition, the reconciliation reportincludes the total amount that customers put in their respectivemerchant accounts and shows the following deductions and additions: (1)less commission and charges (covering payments to all participants inthe payment chain); (2) less a “trust deduct” corresponding to apercentage of the total amount that is withheld for a certain timeperiod (e.g., 6 months or a year) in the rolling reserve escrow accountas security against chargebacks and refunds; (3) plus the “trust money”that was withheld during the certain time period and one day before thedate of the advice note; (4) less any chargebacks communicated by theacquiring bank on the day of the advice note relating to previoustransactions. Before transferring funds to the appropriate participantsand the rolling reserve escrow account, the IPSP 34 reviews thereconciliation reports, including the dates on which payments areindicated to be paid. Upon receiving the approval of the IPSP 34 for thereconciliation reports, the ASP 35 transmits the reconciliation reportsto the various merchants 31, 32, 33 and transfers the payments to theappropriate participants and the escrow account. In one embodiment, thetransfer of funds may occur after the reconciliation reports aregenerated and approved. In another embodiment, the transfer of funds mayoccur prior to approval of the reconciliation reports.

According to the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the funds aredirectly deposited by the acquiring bank into an account for eachcorporate entity associated with each merchant (e.g., SG1, SG2, SG3,etc.). In addition, the ASP module 400 a is further configured forreconciling the amounts received into each account with the settlementrequests and the payment report obtained from the IPSP and the acquiringbank, respectively. In one embodiment, any amount not paid out of theaccount to the various participants or the escrow account is paid to themerchant.

Chargeback Processing Flow

Chargeback requests are requests initiated by an issuing bank on behalfof a customer to refund a particular charge to the customer's paymentcard account. For example, an issuing bank may initiate a chargebackrequest in response to a customer contesting a charge on the customer'spayment card that the customer asserts was not authorized by thecustomer. FIG. 11 illustrates the exemplary flow 1200 of processingchargeback requests according to various embodiments of the invention.

Beginning at step 1202, the issuing bank 37, 38, 39 receives a requestfor a chargeback from a customer. Then, at step 1204, the issuing bank37, 38, 39 transmits the chargeback request to the acquiring bank 36.The acquiring bank 36 receives the chargeback request and transmits itto the IPSP 34 in step 1206. Next, at step 1208, the IPSP 34 comparesthe chargeback request with the data from the original transaction. Ifthe data in the chargeback request appears to match the data from theoriginal transaction, the IPSP 34 transmits the request to the ASP 35 instep 1210. The comparison and transmittal steps 1208 and 1210 may beperformed by the IPSP module 300 according to various embodiments of theinvention as described above. Next, in step 1212, according to variousembodiments of the invention, the ASP 35 forwards the chargeback amountfrom the merchant's escrow account to the acquiring bank 36, which thenforwards the chargeback amount to the issuing bank 37, 38, 39 thatinitiated the chargeback request. In an alternative embodiment, the ASP35 pays the chargeback amount to the issuing bank 37, 38, 39 bydeducting it from the total amount that should be paid to the merchant31, 32, 33 in the settlement request. Then, in step 1214, the ASP 35stores the chargeback request. In various embodiments of the invention,the ASP module 400 is configured to perform steps 1212 and 1214.

If in step 1208 the chargeback request data does not match the data fromthe original transaction, the chargeback request may be flagged,according to various embodiments of the invention. In addition, if thenumber of flagged chargeback requests associated with a particularpayment card exceed a certain number within a particular time period(e.g., two chargeback requests within a week or a month), the IPSP mayinclude the particular payment card number on a list of payment cardsthat should not be accepted for payment by the merchant in the future(e.g., in the fraud and abuse database maintained by the IPSP 34).

In addition to the above, according to various embodiments, the ASP 35reconciles chargeback requests processed by the acquiring bank 36 andthe IPSP 34 during a particular time period (e.g., daily or weekly) withthe transaction data from the original transactions. To reconcile therequests, the ASP 35 obtains a chargeback transaction report generatedby the acquiring bank 36 and a chargeback transaction report generatedby the IPSP 34 and compares the two reports with the data from theoriginal transactions, shown as step 1216. In one embodiment, thecomparison step 1216 is performed by linking the data in the chargebackreports with the data from the original transactions that has beenstored in the memory of the ASP system 105. According to one embodiment,the chargeback data reports contain at least a portion of the followinginformation: (1) reference to the original transaction that is beingcharged back; (2) the MID number; (3) the date that the chargebackrequest is made; (4) a description of the transaction as a “chargeback”;(5) the full card number; (6) the reference number granted by theacquiring bank; (7) a “reason code,” which is a code number issued bythe card issuer that indicates why the chargeback was initiated by thecardholder; (8) a description of why the chargeback was initiated; (9)type of currency for the chargeback amount; (10) chargeback amount; (11)the card number or portion thereof (e.g., first four digits of cardnumber) provided by the acquiring bank; (12) the date that the originaltransaction was “posted” or authorized; (13) the date the originaltransaction took place; (14) the “type” of the original transaction;(15) the currency of the original transaction; (16) the amount of theoriginal transaction; (17) the currency in which the transaction wassettled; (18) the amount that was settled; (19) the original “default”currency provided by the acquiring bank; (20) the original “defaultcurrency” amount provided by the acquiring bank; (21) the “originalslip,” which is a reference to the “batch” of transactions that thetransaction was part of when the acquiring bank released its data aboutthe transactions of a particular day to the IPSP; (22) the “item slip”of the acquiring bank; (23) the authorization code of the originaltransaction; (24) the “batch number” of the acquiring bank; and (25) the“merchant DBA name,” which is the name of the merchant as it appears onthe customer's payment card statement. As described above in relation toFIG. 8, the ASP module 400 may be configured to perform thisreconciliation step 1216 according to various embodiments of theinvention.

According to various embodiments of the invention, the reports may beposted to the IPSP system 104 and the acquiring bank system 106 anddownloaded by the ASP system 105, or the reports may be transmittedphysically or electronically via email, facsimile, CD, DVD, or floppydisk, for example.

Payment Processing Flow

In some e-commerce sectors (e.g., gambling), money may need to be paidback to the customer. Paying the customer money may raise concerns aboutthe risk of abuse for money laundering, especially with respect toInternet gambling. According to various embodiments of the invention,the system 100 addresses some of the risks associated with e-commercetransactions by exclusively making payments to the payment card accountused by the customer to make the original payment to the merchant,creating a fully transparent “closed loop” between the customer and themerchant. Thus, according to one embodiment, funds originate from andflow back to the same account and all money flows are traceable, whichmakes e-commerce unattractive for money laundering schemes.

For example, FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary flow 1300 of processingand transmitting payment to a customer when the customer submits apayment request. Beginning at step 1302, the merchant receives a requestfrom the customer for payment and transmits the request to the IPSP.Next, in step 1304, the IPSP verifies that the customer is not includedon a government or local authority sanction list (e.g., “SpeciallyDesignated Nationals list” published by the U.S.). In addition,according to one embodiment, the IPSP verifies that the nationality ofthe customer (e.g., based on the customer's billing address or the IPaddress of the customer's computing device) is not on a list ofprohibited countries in which merchants may conduct business. Accordingto various embodiments, if the customer (or customer's country) is onthe list, the payment request cannot be processed by the system 100 andthe request is denied. If the customer is not included on the sanctionlist(s) (or is not associated with a prohibited country), the IPSP 34transmits the payment request to the merchant's bank, which is shown asstep 1306. In response to receiving the request and verifying that thepayment funds are in the merchant's account, the merchant bank transmitsthe funds to the IPSP 34, which is shown as step 1308. After the IPSP 34has received the funds and stored a record of them in the IPSP system104, the IPSP 34 transfers the funds to the acquiring bank 36 as shownin step 1310. Next, in step 1312, upon receiving the funds, theacquiring bank 36 transmits the funds to the issuing bank 37, 38, 39that is associated with the customer's payment card that was used tomake purchases (e.g., place bets) on the merchant's website. Accordingto various embodiments, in step 1314, the issuing bank 37, 38, 39 maythen credit the account associated with the payment card for the amountreceived from the merchant 31, 32, 33, or the issuing bank 37, 38, 39may send a check to the customer that is listed as the card holder.

E-Wallet

In yet another embodiment of the invention (not shown), the financialtransaction system 100 is configured to allow customers to purchaseelectronic tokens from the IPSP 34, which can then be used withparticipating merchants 31, 32, 33 for the agreed value, creating aprepaid “e-wallet” account. According to various embodiments, thefeatures of the financial transaction system 100 are extendable to thee-wallet system. For example, instead of the merchant 31, 32, 33receiving the request from the customer to transfer funds from theaccount associated with the customer's payment card to the merchant'saccount, the IPSP 34 receives the request to transfer funds from thecustomer's e-wallet account to the IPSP's account. According to oneembodiment, the IPSP 34 executes the steps of the merchant module 200and the IPSP module 300 to generate and process the authorization andsettlement requests with the issuing bank. Upon settlement, the IPSP 34credits an e-wallet account for the customer with an amount ofelectronic tokens representative of the amount of funds transferred. Thecustomer can use the tokens with participating merchants 31, 32, 33 tomake purchases. Periodically (e.g., daily or weekly), the IPSP 34transfers funds to each merchant 31, 32, 33 that are representative ofthe amount of tokens spent at each merchant's website. In oneembodiment, the ASP 35 manages the e-wallet accounts and allocatespayments from the IPSP 34 to the participating merchants 31, 32, 33.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come tomind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains havingthe benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions andthe associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed andthat modifications and other embodiments are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms areemployed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense onlyand not for the purposes of limitation.

1. A tax accounting system for financial transactions conducted withonline merchants, the system comprising: a memory configured for storingone or more types of tax and corresponding taxation rates for each ofone or more tax jurisdictions; and a processor configured for: receivinga settlement request, the settlement request comprising settlementinformation associated with a plurality of financial transactionsconducted between an online merchant and one or more customers, thesettlement request requesting transfer of funds from one or moreaccounts associated with the one or more customers for payment to theonline merchant in regard to the plurality of financial transactions;submitting the settlement request to an acquiring bank; receiving apayment report from the acquiring bank, the payment report comprisingpayment information associated with a payment to be received for each ofthe plurality of financial transactions associated with the settlementrequest; in response to receiving the payment report: reconciling eachof the plurality of financial transactions by comparing the settlementinformation for a particular financial transaction with the paymentinformation for the particular financial transaction; and identifyingeach of the plurality of financial transactions that reconcile; and foreach identified financial transaction that reconciles: identifying oneor more tax jurisdictions associated with the financial transactionbased on the information associated with the financial transaction; inresponse to identifying the one or more tax jurisdictions associatedwith the financial transaction, querying the memory to determine whetherone or more types of tax are associated with the one or more taxjurisdictions; in response to determining that one or more types of taxare associated with the one or more tax jurisdictions, applying thecorresponding taxation rates for each of the one or more types of tax tothe information associated with the financial transaction to determinean amount of tax owed; and in response to determining the amount of taxowed: obtaining the funds being transferred from the acquiring bank forpayment to the online merchant for the financial transaction; deductingthe amount of tax owed from the funds; transferring the amount of taxowed to one or more relevant tax authorities; and transferring remainingfunds comprising the funds less the amount of tax owed to the onlinemerchant.
 2. The tax accounting system of claim 1, wherein the processoris configured for sending a report to the merchant, the reportcomprising information for each financial transaction that does notreconcile.
 3. The tax accounting system of claim 1 wherein the one ormore tax jurisdictions are associated with one or more of a location ofthe online merchant, a location of the customer, or a location of acomputing device used by the customer to conduct the financialtransaction.
 4. The tax accounting system of claim 1 wherein theprocessor is further configured for transferring the amount to the oneor more relevant tax authorities via electronic funds transfer.
 5. Thetax accounting system of claim 1 wherein the processor is furtherconfigured for storing the amount of tax owed and the amount transferredto the one or more relevant tax authorities in the memory with thefinancial transaction information for a particular period of time. 6.The tax accounting system of claim 5 wherein the processor is furtherconfigured for generating an accounting report for each of the one ormore relevant tax authorities, the accounting report comprising theamount of taxes owed to the relevant tax authority, the amount of taxtransferred to the relevant tax authority, and at least a portion of theinformation associated with the financial transaction for which taxeswere paid to the relevant tax authority.
 7. A method for conductingfinancial transactions with online merchants, the method comprising thesteps of: receiving a settlement request, the settlement requestcomprising settlement information associated with a plurality offinancial transactions conducted between an online merchant and one ormore customers, the settlement request requesting transfer of funds fromone or more accounts associated with the one or more customers forpayment to the online merchant in regard to the plurality of financialtransactions; submitting the settlement request to an acquiring bank;receiving a payment report from the acquiring bank, the payment reportcomprising payment information associated with a payment to be receivedfor each of the plurality of financial transactions associated with thesettlement request; in response to receiving the payment report:reconciling each of the plurality of financial transactions by at leastone computer processor comparing the settlement information for aparticular financial transaction with the payment information for theparticular financial transaction; and identifying each of the pluralityof financial transactions that reconcile; and for each identifiedfinancial transaction that reconciles: identifying one or more taxjurisdictions associated with the financial transaction based on theinformation associated with the financial transaction; in response toidentifying the one or more tax jurisdictions associated with thefinancial transaction, querying memory to determine whether one or moretypes of tax are associated with the one or more tax jurisdictions; inresponse to determining that one or more types of tax are associatedwith the one or more tax jurisdictions, applying the correspondingtaxation rates for each of the one or more types of tax to theinformation associated with the financial transaction to determine anamount of tax owed; and in response to determining the amount of taxowed: obtaining the funds being transferred from the acquiring bank forpayment to the online merchant for the financial transaction; deductingthe amount of tax owed from the funds; transferring the amount of taxowed to one or more relevant tax authorities; and transferring remainingfunds comprising the funds less the amount of tax owed to the onlinemerchant.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the one or more taxjurisdictions are associated with one or more of a location of theonline merchant, a location of the customer, or a location of acomputing device used by the customer to conduct the financialtransaction.
 9. The method of claim 7 further comprising the step oftransferring the amount to the one or more relevant tax authorities viaelectronic funds transfer.
 10. The method of claim 7 further comprisingthe step of storing the amount of tax owed and the amount transferred tothe one or more relevant tax authorities in the memory with thefinancial transaction information for a particular period of time. 11.The method of claim 10 further comprising the step of generating anaccounting report for each of the one or more relevant tax authorities,the accounting report comprising the amount of taxes owed to therelevant tax authority, the amount of tax transferred to the relevanttax authority, and at least a portion of the information associated withthe financial transaction for which taxes were paid to the relevant taxauthority.